


Of Fights and Phobias

by JackyJango



Series: Cherik Week 2020 [5]
Category: X-Men (Alternate Timeline Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - No Powers, Charles Xavier Needs a Hug, Charles Xavier has a Ph.D in Adorable, Domestic Fluff, Erik Lehnsherr is a Sweetheart, Established Relationship, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Kid Fic, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-17
Updated: 2020-09-17
Packaged: 2021-03-08 02:48:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,475
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26508490
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JackyJango/pseuds/JackyJango
Summary: ‘Charles,’ Erik asks after blinking at him sleepily for a few seconds, ‘What are you doing here?’Suddenly, Charles feels all too stupid, and the silly fear that some ghost or ghoul could come and get him evaporates at the sight of Erik. ‘I was just..’ He bites his lip trying to come up with another excuse as to why he woke Erik up in the middle of the night- something like he couldn’t sleep and wanted to check if Erik wanted to play…  In the middle of the night.‘You watched those stupid horror films with Raven, didn’t you?’ Erik asks finally, unimpressed.Charles nods his head vigorously, and his fringes fall back into his eyes with the action.‘Come in before Mama or Vati wake up then,’ Erik says as he retreats from the door.
Relationships: Erik Lehnsherr/Charles Xavier
Series: Cherik Week 2020 [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1927336
Comments: 2
Kudos: 104
Collections: Cherik Week 2020





	Of Fights and Phobias

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Cherik Week Prompt- Day 5: "Horror AU"  
> Posted on Tumblr [here](https://jackyjango.tumblr.com/post/628879183892938752/of-fights-and-phobias)!
> 
> Okay, I blatantly cheated with this AU, but what else could I do? I can't write horror to save my life...¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading it! Cheers!

Charles startles in place when the curtain billows into the room with a harsh _swoosh._

 _It’s just the wind_ , he tells himself, trying not to imagine a skeletal hand emerging slowly from beneath the curtain’s hem.

 _It’s just the wind,_ he tells his racing heart.

As though it could protect him from everything that spells evil, Charles pulls the blanket further up his shoulders to form a cocoon around him, and screws his eyes shut. He has spent the last hour being startled out of wits at the tiniest of sounds- the creaking of the door, rustling of fabric and even the ticking of the clock, and he can’t spend the rest of the night jumping out of his skin every time the clock ticks, half expecting a poltergeist to jump from underneath his bed like it had in that stupid film. The fact that his eidetic mind is replaying those scenes in his head with crystal clear clarity isn’t helping either.

Stupid Raven and her stupid love for horror films. 

Charles could go to Raven and sleep with her until dawn breaks and run back to his rooms after, but that would only prompt her into teasing him more for fearing something that doesn’t even exist. _They’re just silly movies, Charles_ . She’d say. _It’s just a white cloth on a stick. Everyone knows that._

He _knows_ that, it's just that his mind has more… creative ideas.

Charles is ten years old; old enough to not be affected by the juvenile and silly fear of ghosts. Besides, it's his job as an elder brother to reassure Raven and comfort her when she’s scared, not the other way around. For a brief moment, Charles considers going to his mother, but then he already knows the outcome of it before the thought completes in his head.

That leaves Charles with only one option. 

Throwing the quilt away, Charles hastily puts on his slippers and runs from his room as quietly as possible. He tiptoes down the grand stairs and around the sitting rooms towards the side doors, doing his best to ignore the long and eerie shadows the marble statues cast on the walls, the ghostly portraits of past Xaviers-- who look too close to coming to life, darting a hand out of the gilded frames and pulling Charles into their world as he passes by-- and the creaking of the old hardwood beneath his feet. 

Thankfully, the servant’s quarters are just behind the kitchens, and that fact alone distracts Charles from the rattling of the empty pots and pans hung on the wall.

‘Erik,’ he whispers softly against the door when he reaches the quarters, knowing fully well that Erik sleeps on a bedroll on the floor close to the door while his parents sleep on a low cot further towards the window.

The corridor behind Charles is dark and ominous-- just like the corridor in the basement that was plagued with demons in the film had been— and standing at the end of it, Charles feels trapped, as though the hungry demons would come flying in from the depths if he as much as took a breath.

Gulping, Charles taps his knuckles on the wood, and hisses out urgently, ‘Erik!’

If Erik’s too deep in sleep and doesn’t wake up, then Charles would either have to go back to his room or sleep in front of the door at the end of a dark corridor; both of which aren’t favourable.

Charles knocks a little more frantically this time, one ear plastered to the door, hoping desperately that Erik opens it. After a few brief moments of panic-stricken waiting, Charles hears rustling from within and the sound of footsteps. He quickly steps away from the threshold as the door opens on its hinges.

‘Charles,’ Erik asks after blinking at him sleepily for a few seconds, ‘What are you doing here?’

Suddenly, Charles feels all too stupid, and the silly fear that some ghost or ghoul could come and get him evaporates at the sight of Erik. ‘I was just..’ He bites his lip trying to come up with another excuse as to why he woke Erik up in the middle of the night- something like he couldn’t sleep and wanted to check if Erik wanted to play… In the middle of the night. 

‘You watched those stupid horror films with Raven, didn’t you?’ Erik asks finally, unimpressed.

Charles nods his head vigorously, and his fringes fall back into his eyes with the action.

‘Come in before Mama or Vati wake up then,’ Erik says as he retreats from the door.

Charles follows him inside quickly and closes the door shut behind him.

The room the Lehnsherrs live in is small and bare, but it’s cozy nonetheless. Less so than his monstrosity of a room upstairs. Erik’s bedroll is threadbare and his bedsheet is not even half as thick as his’, but Charles feels a warmth settling in his mind as he places his head on Erik’s pillow and tucks himself under Erik’s blanket.

‘Sleep, Charles,’ Erik says from where they’re sleeping facing each other on the pillow, and places a warm hand on his shoulder, ‘nothing can get you now.’

‘Good night, Erik,’ Charles says and closes his eyes. He doesn’t feel scared here. Not of ghosts or ghouls or poltergeists or monsters. Not when Erik’s there right beside him to make sure he’s safe.

*

**~Two decades later~**

‘You can come and sleep inside today,’ Charles says from the doorway of their bedroom, already dressed in his striped pajamas. He’s still not looking at Erik and his tone is a little too stiff for Erik’s liking, but at least he’s talking to Erik, and that’s as good as a starting point as any.

Their fight had gotten a little ugly this time-- and that’s nuts because Erik barely remembers what they’d fought over a week ago. It had ended up uglier, with Erik opting to sleep on the sofa and both of them choosing to ignore the other’s presence for the rest of the week.

‘Are you sure?’ Erik asks from where he’s already settled in with a book on the sofa.

Charles nods curtly, his jaw and lips pinched in an unhappy line. This isn’t like Charles. He isn’t the one to back down from a fight this easily. He isn’t the one to apologise first. Contrary to popular belief, Charles is stubborn as a mule.

But then Erik remembers Raven mentioning a movie night with Charles that day and it all clicks into place. Erik almost bursts out laughing but bites back in time. ‘Okay,’ he says instead, picking up his pillow and bedsheet from the sofa as Charles disappears into their bedroom.

Charles is sleeping with his back to Erik when Erik settles into his side of the bed, blanket pulled tight around his shoulders like a cocoon around him. 

Erik smiles softly to himself. The thing is, Charles hates that he’s afraid of horror films, and the human conception of evil in general. He’s a man of science; a man of reason, and it mortifies him beyond measure that something as baseless and inane as Hollywood’s half-baked horror flicks could scare him witless. Erik had tried explaining to him that there’s no rhythm or rhyme to phobia, that fear is what it is; that it just exists, but Charles was less inclined to look at it that way. 

And that’s exactly why Erik doesn’t bring it up, doesn’t ask Charles whether Raven forced him to watch a horror film that evening-- Erik’ll bet a 100 bucks that Annabelle would be on their _Latest Watched_ list if he switches on the TV now-- and whether he called Erik in because he was too scared to sleep alone. Erik already knows that. 

So Erik darts his hand out across the feet or two that separates them and asks, ‘Do you want me to hold you?’

Charles doesn’t reply, but, after a few moments he scoots back on their bed until he’s settled comfortably against Erik’s front. Erik drapes an arm around Charles’ middle and pulls him further into the embrace, nestling his nose into Charles’ hair and breathing the familiar scent in. 

‘I’m sorry, Charles,’ he says. What for, Erik doesn’t know, but if an apology will bring his Charles back to him, then he’ll apologise, a hundred times over. Charles relaxes at the words and sighs heavily. He hums noncommittally, presses back into Erik’s embrace and squeezes Erik’s hand on his stomach with his own.

‘Sleep, I’m right here,’ Erik murmurs into Charles' hair, thanking all the dim-witted Hollywood horror flicks for bringing Charles back into his arms. And if he plans to bribe Raven into showing Charles a horror film or two during their future fights, well, can you really blame him?

-

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!  
> Also on Tumblr as [JackyJango](https://jackyjango.tumblr.com)!


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